by Dash Lewis (@gardenerjams)
Self-reflection doesn’t come easy. It requires an ability to float above oneself, observing with the boldest attempt at impartiality. Sleep Sinatra, the unconquerably prolific rapper laureate of Lincoln, Nebraska, might have cracked the code. He collages scraps of his past lives in his raps, filling each verse with harrowing tales of survival and the lessons they teach once you have enough distance. Sleep’s work is fascinating, full of precision cut lyrics that present the grimy and philosophical in equal measure. “Intuition,” the new single from Shadowself, a full-length, Carl Jung-inspired collaboration with Richmond beat shaman Ohbliv, beautifully illustrates his particular set of skills.
Over bliv’s mesmerizing looped soul chops, Sleep calmly explains which gloves you’ll want to wear to keep fingerprints off of a gun and the kind of emotional remove that knowledge can cause. He causally drops devastating science: “Hindsight 20/20 if you live after it.” The visualizer for the track at first seems disconnected; Atlanta artist Promise renders a movie theater floating in a void, the marquee displaying Sleep and Ohbliv’s names prominently. Rather than a cheeky image to be used as a promotional tool, it’s the perfect companion to the song. Sleep invites you into his world. If you sit and stay for a spell, you’ll see things you didn’t expect and you’ll learn how to process the darkness that surrounds us.